Mercy
by Myra109
Summary: When Daniel Corrigan has a severe asthma attack when Herman tries to kill him in Super, Herman can relate. Now, Herman must decide whether to kill Daniel or take him to a hospital. What will he choose? AU


_This is a spin off of Impossible, but you don't have to read that to understand this._

 ** _Disclaimer: I own nothing_**

* * *

Daniel wasn't sure what triggered it, but the stress of the situation made it worse.

His parents were (hopefully) unconscious on the floor of their living room, and a tendril of pure darkness was reaching towards Daniel's baby brother.

The attack came out of no where.

Daniel's lungs were being squeezed in a mighty fist; pain was engulfing his chest, lighting a match beneath his lungs and tightening his throat. When Daniel inhaled, a wheeze sounded, interrupting Georgie's sobs.

Herman turned in confusion. The darkness that pinned Daniel to the floor had not wrapped around his throat yet; he should still be able to breathe.

"What..." He murmured.

"Daniel!" Rose shouted as she appeared out of nowhere.

Herman was so shocked, the darkness he'd been about to hit Georgie with vaporized, becoming shadows on the wall.

Rose was by his side, ripping at the blanket of blackness that pinned Daniel down (it'd weakened with Herman's confusion).

Daniel wheezed again, and he gasped for oxygen that wasn't there.

"His inhaler!" Rose sobbed, turning to Herman. "It's in his backpack."

She didn't know why she expected the bad man to help, but surprisingly, he did.

Herman rifled through Daniel's bag and tossed the inhaler to Rose, who inserted it into Daniel's mouth and pressed the button.

Medicine squirted into Daniel's mouth, but still, oxygen didn't enter his lungs.

"It's not working," Rose cried. "Daniel, Daniel!"

The little girl was becoming hysterical. She was crying so hard, she'd pass out before Daniel did.

"Please help him!" She whimpered, staring at Herman.

Eric, Rohan, and Daniel's parents were unconscious. Georgie was only three; she was only seven. Herman was her only chance, albeit not a very good one.

Herman had turned as white as sheet.

This should've been fantastic. He was no murderer; there was no way he'd be able to kill Daniel. He'd back out. Now, if he knocked out the brother and the girl, Daniel's asthma attack would go untreated and, judging by the severity of it, kill him.

And yet, he hesitated to allow that to happen.

Herman had asthma; he'd had it since he was a boy. He remembered the aching chest, the tight fist squeezing his lungs, the tightening of his throat, but most of all, he remembered the panic.

His attacks were dangerous; the orphanage had had to drive him to a hospital more than once. The mean kids had stolen his inhaler in the past; sometimss, the inhaler failed him.

He felt like he was going to die during every asthma attack.

He'd even turned blue once, and Daniel was rapidly turning that color.

 ***HERMAN'S FLASHBACK***

"Seriously, Herman?" Eileen laughed.

Eileen and Herman were lying side by side on the grass; they were close to the orphanage, but away from the other kids. The sun was high in the sky; spring had arrived, and they were basking in the warmth of that Saturday afternoon.

"Admit it, Elie. It was funny, and he had it coming," Herman responded.

Earlier that day, Herman had gotten into Steven Baney's trunk and poured itching powder into his shorts while he was in the shower. The minute he put them on, he started hopping up and down and scratching everywhere. _Everywhere_.

"Maybe he did, and maybe it was funny, but that doesn't mean it was right," Eileen pointed out.

Herman smiled, but before he could respond, he felt his throat close up.

A fist was squeezing his lungs, and he coughed; it felt as though someone had filled his lungs with smoke. He felt like he was choking and suffocating at the same time. His eyes were watering from the pain; he wheezed, loudly.

"Herman?" Eileen sat up, her eyes wide in panic.

Herman couldn't have replied if he wanted to. He was breathing harder, his breaths shallow and interrupted by wheezing and coughing. Dark spots were dancing in his vision, and if he stood up, he would surely pass out.

Eileen retrieved his inhaler from the front pocket of his pants, and he scrambled to take it from her, pushing it into his mouth and pressing the button.

He still couldn't breathe.

"Herman!" Eileen shouted.

"Not... work... ing, " Herman sputtered, coughing in between syllables.

Why wasn't it working? Weren't inhalers supposed to help?

Tears were leaking down Herman's face. Herman wasn't one to cry easily, but the pain in his chest overwhelmed his dignity and his pride.

Eileen leaned over him, and her form was blurry. Oxygen was no longer going to Herman's brain; he was beginning to look consciousness. He tried to focus on Eileen, but he was grasping at straws. The world was going black.

Herman wasn't sure how Eileen managed to pick him up and carry him back to the orphange. He was scrawny, but Eileen was not stronger than the average girl; she shouldn't have been able to carry him all the way up to trail to the monk's house.

Herman barely remembered anything after being lifted off of the grass. He remembered trees blurring together from the speed at which Eileen was running. He remembered kids crying out as Eileen burst through the gate, not slowing down as she continued to the monk's house. He remembered paramedics leaning over him, although he didn't remember the ambulance arriving.

When Herman came to, he was at a hospital and had gone back to the orphanage a few hours afterward.

The mean kids laid off of him for a few weeks before starting in on him again, but for a while, Herman didn't care.

Maybe it was because Eileen had been waiting for him after his hospital visit and had tackled him in a suffocating embrace.

It was the worst asthma attack of Herman's life, and he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Eileen.

 ***HERMAN'S FLASHBACK OVER***

Herman was jolted back to the present when the cord tying his pendant to his neck snapped.

Daniel tossed the pendant on the floor and shattered it with the fireplace poker, but Herman barely noticed.

His eyes were focused on Daniel's blue face as he collapsed to the floor, clawing at his throat and chest in panic.

Eileen would want him to save her grandson.

Eileen had saved him all those years ago; maybe it was about time he returned the favor.

He dropped the backpack and picked Daniel up with one arm behind the boy's shoulders and the other under his knees.

Rose was astonished that the 'bad man' was actually helping Daniel.

Herman ignored Rose and Georgie and carried Daniel out the limo, placing Daniel in the passenger's seat and hopping into the driver's seat.

Daniel was slipping into unconsciousness.

"Stay with me, kid!" Herman shouted.

Daniel's only reply was a high pitched wheeze.

Herman flew through the streets, tires squealing against the pavement, ignoring the shades and the new Supers as they tested their old-new abilities.

The emergency room came into view.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mollie burst through the door to Daniel's house, searching the room for Herman Plunkett.

He wasn't there. And neither was Daniel.

She turned to Rose, who was sitting beside a sobbing Georgie.

"Where's Daniel?" She demanded, gasping for breath.

"Yeah," a voice mumbled from behind her. "Where is he?"

"And what happened?"

Eric and Rohan had regained consciousness.

"Do you guys remember me?" Mollie asked.

Eric nodded. "Why wouldn't we?"

"I'll explain later," Mollie promised before turning back to Rose. "Where's Daniel?"

"He had an asthma attack," Rose whimpered. "Plunkett took him. I think he took him to a hospital."

Mollie frowned. Herman took Daniel to a hospital? That didn't seem right.

"All right," she said. "We'll go check. Rose, stay here with Georgie, and tell Daniel's parents that _we_ took him to the hospital. Don't tell them about Herman, okay? there will be time to explain that later."

Rose nodded, and Rohan climbed onto Eric's back before Eric and Mollie took off into the sky.

* * *

When Daniel came to, he recognized that he was in the hospital, but he couldn't remember why.

His parents, Georgie (who had fallen asleep in the chair next to Daniel's bed), the Supers, and Theo surrounded his bedside.

"What happened?" He muttered.

Before they could answer, it all came rushing back.

The Quarry, Herman, asthma attack, breaking the pendant, passing out...

"You had an asthma attack," his mom said.

"We're going to go talk to your doctor," his dad told him as he and his mom left.

Once his parents were gone, Daniel turned to the Supers.

"Did Herman take me to the hospital, or was I imagining that?"

Mollie nodded. "He really took you to the hospital. He saved your life."

Daniel smiled. "He is merciful, after all," he whispered.

If Daniel had looked up, he would've noticed Herman standing outside the doorway to his room. He was clenching the picture of a familiar little girl. A girl named Eileen.

H would've also noticed that Herman Plunkett was crying.

* * *

 _What'd you think? It was just a short one shot I thought off as I was trying (and failing) to fall asleep._

 _Also, inhalers help with asthma, but sometimes, the asthma attack is so severe, the inhaler doesn't help. It's not common since people usually get their asthma under control as quickly as they can (they consult a doctor as to how), but it does happen._

 _REVIEW!_


End file.
